Vertical axis beading



Nov. 13, 1951 K. STUART VERTICAL AXIS BEADING Filed July 31, 1946 IN VEN TOR. KIMBERLY STl/AR 7' BY ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VERTICAL AXIS BEADING Kimberly Stuart, Menasha, Wis., assignor of onehalf to Elizabeth R. B. Stuart, Menasha, Wis.

Application July 31, 1946, Serial No. 687,267

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for applying reinforcing rim strips to containers, closures and other articles.

It has become common practice to apply metallic rim strips to containers and other articles made of paper, pulp board, fibrous sheet material and the like to reinforce them against distortion and as an added protection and ease in handling. A special rimming machine and method used extensively for this purpose is disclosed and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,283,962 to Wilson et al., and the present invention relates more particularly to improvements, variations and refinements in the apparatus and method disclosed in said patent.

The invention of the above Wilson et al. patent, and the inventions disclosed in this specification relate to high speed production of rimmed articles. Prior to these inventions the practice was usually to provide preformed metal hoops to the article edges, a procedure requiring individual fitting of each hoop to that contour of the article edge. This took timeand was expensive because of the labor involved. The present inventions embody substantially continuous rimming of a series of articles in succession with no problems of fitting because the metal strips are shaped and secured to the article in a continuous operation.

It is a major object of this'invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for continuously and positively forming and fastening reinforcing or sealing rims to articles of paper board, fiber board and the like from a length or reel of strip metal as contrasted with the usual preformed hoop.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for fastening a rim strip to the edge of an article wherein a strip is transversely curved to provide a substantially C-shaped rim clenched about and along the edge of the article and laterally bent to follow the contour of the edge of said article.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method and apparatus for formin and clenching a generally C-shaped rim strip about and along the edge of an article wherein the article is supported for rotation about a generally vertical axis and a flat or preformed strip fed in a direction substantially perpendicular to that axis, the strip being bent transversely and longitudinally as it is secured to the article.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for securing a rim strip to the edge of an article wherein a rim strip is transversed curved about its longitudinal axis and bent in a direction substantially parallel to its direction of feed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method and apparatus for securing a sheet metal or like rim strip along and about the edge of an article wherein the strip is subjected to preshaping prior to being clenched to said article and controlled bending of the clenched strip to follow the contour of said edge is provided.

Further objects of the invention will presently appear as the description of the invention proceeds in connection with the appended claims and the annexed drawings in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of the rimming apparatus constructed according to a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the preforming rollers, showing the section of the metallic rim strip as taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 illustrating particularly the strip formin and clenching rolls;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view, partially in section, taken on line 4-4 of Figure l illustrating particularly the adjustable strip bending roll; and

Figures 5, 6 and. '7 are sectional views along lines 5-5, 66 and 1-! in Figure 1 illustrating the rim in successive formative stages.

Referring to Figures 1-4, the article support of the rimming machine is designated generally at [5 and comprises a substantially dish-shaped rigid article retainer member l6 within which a preformed paper or pulp receptacle, container or like article to be rimmed I! preferably snugly engages the inner walls and bottom of member- Hi. This is preferable so that, when member I6 is rotated about its axis, article I I will be carried along without any intermediate drive connection therebetween than their mutual friction.

Retainer member [6 has a'depending integral bearing housing ll within which one end of p a vertical standard I8 is journaled. The lower end of standard l8 has a reduced portion it which is bent at a right angle to the upper enlarged portion to form an integral pivot pin 2| slidably engaged in an elongated slot 22 of a treadle lever 23. Lever 23 is provided at one end with a foot pad 24 and is pivoted at 2% in an upstanding lug formation 2'! which is rigidly secured to the base of the rimming machine or upon any convenient place on the floor near the base of the machine. The opposite end of lever 23 is secured to one end of coil spring 28 anchored near the floor as at 29, and spring 28 tends to urge lever 23 in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot at 28. The extreme end of lever 23 is pivotally connected as at 3| to a clutch operating arm 32 for a purpose to be described later. When an operator presses down with his foot on pad 24, standard l8 and member Hi will be elevated to advance the article on the latter into position to be rimmed as will appear.

In securing the reinforcing rim to the article ll, the leading end of a fiat metallic strip 33, preferably of sheet steel, is inserted into a hori-.

zontally slotted guide diagrammatically illustrated at 34. Strip 33 may be a strip precut to exact length or may be fed from-a. reel, with a suitable automatic cutter (not shown) interposed to divide it into proper lengths. Slot 3%. in the guide holds strip 33 in a horizontal plane as the strip is fed into the pass defined by preforming rollers 3? and helps to prevent askewing of the strip as it is formed and secured to article ll. When strip '53 leaves preforming rollers 31 it has acquired an open, inverted U-shaped configuration in transverse cross section as illustrated in Figure 6. As illustrated in Figures 2 and 6 the action of preforming rolls 3? is to preform strip 33 initially by imparting to it an arcuate transversecurvature about its longitudinal axis. If desiredhowever rollers 3'! could be omitted and a strip 33 factory preformed to the shape of Figure 6 provided.

Preforming rollers 31, illustrated best in Figure 2, are similar to those shown in U. S. Patent 2,281,889 issued to Allen B. Wilson and myself and comprise arcuate strip forming surfaces 38 and enlarged contacting cylindrical portions 39 mounted on shafts 4|. Oneof the rollers 3? may be non-rotatably mountedon its. shaft which is driven by any suitable means, not shown, while the other roller may be freely; rotatably mounted on a sationary shaft. Shafts 4| are vertical and parallel and are so positioned that the peripheral edges of roller portions 39 are constantlyin contact whereby the surfaces 38;are always maintained in the same relation.

After strip 33 has been inserted into guide member 34 and is engaged by the preforming rollers 37 it is then advanced mechanically, partly due to the frictional engagement of the strip by the strip contacting surfaces .38, and is thereby advanced into the. roller pass at the rim securing. station 43 which is located at a point tangential vto the edgeof the article upon which the strip is to be fastened.

In its operative position, rim securing means 43 functionsto curl or bend partially preformed strip 33 transversely about longitudinal axis and in a direction generally parallel to the plane of the strip prior to preforming until it assumes a generally circular or C-shaped cross section to embrace the opposite sides of thevertical article edge or edges. When the strip. is'clenched along and about the article edge by action of rollers 44 and 45 at station 43, the lateral edges of the metal rim are caused to bite into opposite sides of the article due to the small area of contact between the relatively sharp. strip edges and the relatively soft article surface and the high pressure incident to bending the strip to substantially C-shape about the article edge. The metal retains its given C-shape and remains clenched about the article edge after the operation is completed. Where the article edge to be rimmed iscircular, strip 33 is preferably fed into station 43 .at a tangent thereto.

action between gears 54 and 56 during rimming arrangement, not shown, and 1s provlded with a At one end, armll is provided with a freely r0- Rim securing station 43, as illustrated in Figure 3, comprises a pair of rollers 44 and 45 having arcuate identical strip contacting faces and 4% of desired contour and enlarged con tacting cylindrical roller portions 41. Rollers 45 and 45 are non-rotatably secured to shafts 48 and 49. Shaft 49 is rotatably journaled in a supporting arm 5| which is pivotally secured by a suitable pivot assembly, at 52 to arm 53. At the upper end of arm 5| shaft 49'carries a gear 54 non-rotatably mounted thereon which meshes with a gear 56 fixed to shaft 48.

Gears Bil-and 56 are constantly engaged and are designed'to allow pivotal movement of arm about pivot 52 while the gears are rotatin without causing binding of the gears. Arm 53 is provided with a rigid, stop 57, and a spring 58 extends between lug 51 and a recess 59 in arm 5 i, in which it is engaged, tending to rotate arm 5! about its pivot 52 in a counterclockwise direction and thereby separate the forming rollers.

From the above. it will be seen that roller 44 is mounted for movement toward and away from roller 45 to permit insertion of the edge of the article ll between the. rollers. To insure proper operations, a cam arrangement is provided for insuring, that shaft 49 ismaintained parallel to shaft 48 during that period. A, cam shaft 69 is connected to a driving means by a suitable gear cam 62 non-rotatably mounted thereon.

Arm 5| is provided, adjacent pivot 52, with an arm iifihavinga suitablepivot assembly 69 for supporting a rocker arm ll intermediate its ends.

tatable, roller 72 designed to follow the surface of cam 62. At its other end, arm H is bent laterally to .aposition along the. side of arm 5i and is. there formed with a threaded boss 73 through which extends. an adjustable stud 14 having a suitable stop formation T6,for engaging a stop surface TI on arm 5|.

When. roller 12 entersrecessed portion 63 of cam 62, thispermits spring58 to force arm 5i awayfrom arm, 53.to. separate rollers 44 and 45, and rim. securing. station 43.is-now in position to receive the edge ,of the article to berimmed. The article can be raised into the open .roller pass by stepping on pad .24. As rim 33.i's secured to the top edge of the vertical wall of the article, the driven rollers of securing station 43 frictionally cause article. and support [6 to rotate about the vertical axis of standard l8. Atstation 43, the preformed strip 33. isclenched tightly about and along the upstanding edge of article 11, the

opposite lateral edges of the strip biting into the softer material of the. article on opposite sides of the edge as illustrated in Figure 3. This manner andapparatus for clenching the strip to the article is preferably the same as disclosed in said Patent 2,283,962 to whichnattention is directed for further detail if i needed. The tangential path of travel of rim strip, 33 -is then diverted by ,a suitable adjustable curling'shoe assembly l8 elongated slot 82 in projecting lug portion '83 to allow radial adjustment of the shoe to adapt it to different size rim strips. Shoe I8 is provided with an arcuate strip contacting face 89 which conforms to the peripheral contour of the, vertical wall of the article IT. A groove 9| is pro-, vided in face 89 to aid in retaining the article in its holder while circumferential bending is being imparted to the rim.

To further aid in the longitudinal bending of rim 33 to follow the contour of the article edge a radially adjustable roller 92, illustrated in Figure 4, is rotatably mounted on the lower end of a vertical shaft 93 which has the other end secured in block 94 as by a pin 96. Block 34 is slidably mounted in a frame 91 having supporting ledges 98 on opposite sides thereof and set screws 91 threaded in the end walls. Frame 9! is secured to stationary arm I9I in any suitable manner, as by welding.

Roller 92 is located within the article being rimmed, and set screws 99 and shaft 93 are preferably in a radial plane of the circular article beyond the end of the forming shoe whereby adjustment of set screws 99 will slide block 94 along supporting ledges 93 to impart adjustment to roller 92 along the radius of rim 33 for moving the roller toward or away from the rim. When 'in its properly adjusted position, groove 95 in roller 92 engages rim 33 as shown in Figure 4. Circumferentially beyond roller 52, a pair of rollers I92 similar to those at station 43 may be located. These rollers are mounted and operated like rollers 44 and 45 and impart the finishing transverse crimping or clenching of the rim about its longitudinal axis, and the also serve to fulcrum rim 33 about roller 92, thereby aiding controlled circumferential bending of the rim.

In operation an article to be rimmed, such as the cardboard can header I1, is placed in member I6. Strip 33, preformed to the sectional shape of Figure 6, is advanced toward the roller pass of station 43. As the strip enters the pass treadle 23 is depressed by the operator to raise member I6 until the edge to be rimmed is disposed within the roller pass. The roller passes at 43 and I62 are initially open to receive the header edge, roller 12 being disposed in cam recess 63. Preferably depression of treadle 23 causes lever 32 to operate a clutch that drives shaft 6| for a complete revolution in the manner that closing of the roller pass is accomplished in Patent 2,283,962 to which reference is made for detail if needed. During revolution of cam 52, the strip is frictionally fed through station 43 and the same time clenched about and along the freely rotating header edge. The parts and strip length are so proportioned that during one revolution of cam 52 the header edge is completely rimmed with a slight telescoping overlap at the strip ends.

The preforming step at rollers 31 may be dispensed with if desired and preformed and precut lengths of material supplied as in Patent 2,283,962. In the rimming of some large diameter articles the preforming may be entirely omitted. The strips may be fed to pass 43 manually or automatically.

Since strip 33, in order to follow the circular periphery of header I'I, must bend in a direction substantially parallel to its path of movement into the roller pass, and since the material of header Il may not be strong enough to compel such bending as the strip advances, I provide roller 92 to aid in this bending action. Shoe 18 may be dispensed with except for very stiff rim material. Actually the clenched-on rim section between station 43 and rollers I92 is effectively fulcrumed about its contact with roller 92 which may be adjusted to increase or decrease its bending action. If needed, a groove idler roller can be provided on the, side opposite roller 92.

This aid to bending of the clenched rim is particularly desirable as in the present embodiment where the bending action to follow the article edge contour must take place in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of flat strip 33. In such a method, in the absence of special auxiliary forming apparatus the strip is imparted its C-shape about its longitudinal axis prior to such circumferential bending, because to bend the flat strip laterally in its plane would form wrinkles and unevenness in the inside portion thus renderin it difficult to later form into the transverse c-shape necessary to clench onto the header.

It will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the rimming of circular articles but may be utilized in rimming articles of any edge contour where the junctures or corners between adjacent edge portions are arcuate so as to permit a continuous operation.

The invention is not only applicable to rimming articles having single continuous edges, but may also be employed to secure together the side by edge regions of two or more separate members. It will be understood that reference to an article edge herein is therefore to be interpreted of sufiicient scope to cover the securin of adjacent members together by a metal strip which extends over such side by side edges and bites into the separate members at opposite sides.

It will thus be seen that in all forms of this invention substantial transverse bending of the metallic strip is performed before any circumferential bending of the strip to approach the contour of the edge to be rimmed.

This invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departin from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for applyin a stiffening rim upon a generally circular article comprising means supporting said article for free rotation with its peripheral edge adjacent a rim securing station, means for laterally prebending a strip of metal about its longitudinal axis and advancing it longitudinally toward said station in a slightly arcuate condition substantially tangentially of the peripheral edge of said article, means at said station for further bending said strip transversely of its length and about its longitudinal axis around the peripheral edge of said article with the opposite lateral edges of said strip disposed angularly with respect to the opposite sides of said article at said edge whereby the opposite lateral edges of said strip are forced into intimate locking engagement with said article, said means also being operable to rotate said article and advance said strip through said station so that said strip is progressively fastened along the peripheral edge of said member, means radially adjustable with respect to said circular article for engaging said fastened strip beyond said rim securing station for laterally bending said strip in a direction substantially parallel to the general plane of the original strip to conform said strip substantially to the periphery of said article.

2. Apparatus for applying a rim upon a generally circular article comprising means supporting said article for free rotation with its peripheral edge adjacent a rim securing station, said rim securing station comprising cooperating arcuately faced forming rollers mounting on vertical axes, a subsequent arcuate shoe member cooperating With said forming rollers to impart lateral curvature to said rim as it emerges from said rollers, said rollers being operable to rotate said article and advance said rim through said station so that said rim is progressively fastened about and along the peripheral edge of said article, and means for adjusting said shoe substantially along a radius of said article.

3. In a method of securing a metallic strip along and about the circular edge of an article of softer material mounted for rotation about an axis wherein said strip is advanced flat in a plane substantially perpendicular to said axis, the steps of securing said strip to said edge by lateral bending about its longitudinal axis and imparting lateral curvature to said secured strip to conform to the contour of said edge as said article rotates.

4. In apparatus for applying a rim strip to an edge of an article mounted for rotation about a vertical axis, means for horizontally advancing a strip toward said edge with the wide dimension of said strip disposed substantially in a horizontal plane, means for clenching said strip about and along said edge as the article rotates in response to advancement of said strip, and means acting on the portion of said strip which is clenched to said article for positively forming said strip to follow the peripheral contour of said edge.

5. In the apparatus defined in claim 4, means for preforming said strip into downwardly facing arcuate cross section prior to said clenching.

6. In the apparatus defined in claim 4, means beyond said positive forming means for finish clenching said strip about said edge.

KIMBERLY STUART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,958,965 Goldberg May 15, 1934 2,200,605 Pierce May 14, 1940 2,283,962 Wilson May 26, 1942 2,342,? 15 Wilson Feb. 29, 1944 

